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Wearable Technology: Fitbit fitbit.com

Quad-Cities Computer Society Meeting Review
Presented by Judi McDowell, QCS President
Reviewed by Joe Durham, Editor, Quad-Cities Computer Society, IA
May 2016 issue, Qbits
www.qcs.org
julee89 (at) gmail.com

Fitbit Charge HR

At a recent meeting, Judi McDowell, QCS president, shared her knowledge and experience with
wearable technology. The pace of technological change is fast and these devices are now the
“in” thing for groups of all ages. She focused on the Fitbit devices as she has a Fitbit Charge
which is one of the newer models in the Fitbit line of devices.

She asked for a show of hands among the audience for those who currently use this technology.
There were 6 hands: 3 had a Fitbit Charge, one had a Fitbit Alta, one had a Fitbit Flex, and one
had a Garmin device. This indicates that the desire to use these new gadgets is growing day by
day, even among our QCS members.

Judi gave us an historical overview of how these devices emerged on the scene. Like all techno-
logical revolutions the fitness tracking device has its origins in many diverse needs and slowly the
growth of technological change brought it all together.

Amazingly, it has its origin in the creation of the lie detector in 1921. A lie detector measures
electronically your pulse, blood pressure, and there are seniors on your skin to measure changes
there.

Segue to 1961 in Japan. A professor wanted the means to track walking for health. He developed
the pedometer, I am sure we have all seen these mechanical aids from time to time.

Now move to 1971 and car technology. The development of air bags brought forth the creation of
the accelerometer which measures change in direction, an obvious requirement for air bag to de-
ploy at the right moment in the event of a crash.

Now switch to 1974 and game technology was needed for the all of the new gaming controls, to
help us enjoy and become a part of the experience. These advances help everyone navigate

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